Thursday, August 14, 2014

MURFREESBORO — The Summer 2014 edition of
“MTSU Magazine” profiles MTSU professor and state historian Carroll Van West,
who is well known in a field that’s as much about gaining trust as it is about
preserving structures.

Since
becoming director of the Center for Historic Preservation, established in 1984
by the Tennessee General Assembly as MTSU’s first Center of Excellence and one
of nine original centers at Tennessee Board of Regents universities, West has
established a reputation that’s helped make the center and MTSU historic preservation
students familiar in places well beyond Tennessee’s borders.

MTSU has
experienced remarkable success through the years placing graduates in jobs in
the field of historic preservation, in places of employment such as state
historic preservation offices, military bases, national parks, federal
agencies, historic sites and museums, preservation or cultural resources
management consulting firms and departments of transportation.

It’s all
part of CHP’s mission, which is not only to help Tennessee communities identify
and use their heritage assets (historical sites, artifacts and narratives that
tell stories of the past) but also to support and direct student research and
experiential learning opportunities. Through the years, the CHP has helped communities
develop historic preservation plans, historic structure reports, heritage
tourism plans, National Register nominations and more. Along the way, students
studying Public History at MTSU have worked alongside West and his staff,
putting “boots on the ground,” as West calls it, and getting real-world
historic preservation experience.

“There is no
better way to learn history and develop a passion for it than to go put your
hands on it,” West says. “It’s a great competitive advantage because when our
students go on interviews they talk about their projects, and employers know
from the get-go that they have real experience.”

Other
articles in the new edition of the magazine include:

·A profile of alumnus Rickey
Smith, who is working to build tomorrow’s Army;

·A list of the top 10 Myths about
the Modern MTSU (and why MTSU graduates should send their child or grandchild
to MTSU);

·A study of the revival of vinyl
records from the perspective of three MTSU faculty experts;

·A second look at golf coach Whit
Turnbow’s new charity, which proves that one good deed leads to many others;

·A conversation with Dr. Meredith
Dye, who studies an oft-ignored female population living behind bars;

·A glimpse of the past as one good
deed from a former MTSU president continues to support MTSU’s mission;

·A look at financial gifts to the
University’s ongoing $80 million fundraising campaign that demonstrate the
power of True Blue;

·Spotlights on two honorary
degrees recently awarded to two extraordinary individuals with MTSU ties.

Readers may
also download “MTSU Magazine” free for their iPads and Android devices.
The MTSU Mag app, available in the iTunes store and now at Google Play, includes special multimedia
content built into every issue that’s not available in the print editions.

Printed
copies of “MTSU Magazine” are distributed twice annually to more than
105,000 alumni readers. The publication also is distributed to interested
community members, including state lawmakers and members of the Tennessee Board
of Regents.